Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE
tion of power.”
“Which job did he want, sir? What subject did he want to teach?” Somehow,
Harry knew the answer even before Dumbledore gave it. “Defense
Against the Dark Arts. It was being taught at the time by an old professor
by the name of Galatea Merrythought, who had been at Hogwarts for nearly
fifty years.
“So Voldemort went off to Borgin and Burkes, and all the staff who had
admired him said what a waste it was, a brilliant young wizard like that,
working in a shop. However, Voldemort was no mere assistant. Polite and
handsome and clever, he was soon given particular jobs of the type that only
exist in a place like Borgin and Burkes, which specializes, as you know,
Harry, in objects with unusual and powerful properties. Voldemort was sent
to persuade people to part with their treasures for sale by the partners, and
he was, by all accounts, unusually gifted at doing this.”
“I’ll bet he was,” said Harry, unable to contain himself.
“Well, quite,” said Dumbledore, with a faint smile. “And now it is time
to hear from Hokey the house-elf, who worked for a very old, very rich
witch by the name of Hepzibah Smith.”
Dumbledore tapped a bottle with his wand, the cork flew out, and he tipped
the swirling memory into the Pensieve, saying as he did so, “After you,
Harry.”
Harry got to his feet and bent once more over the rippling silver contents
of the stone basin until his face touched them. He tumbled through dark
nothingness and landed in a sitting room in front of an immensely fat old
lady wearing an elaborate ginger wig and a brilliant pink set of robes that
flowed all around her, giving her the look of a melting iced cake. She was
looking into a small jeweled mirror and dabbing rouge onto her already
scarlet cheeks with a large powder puff, while the tiniest and oldest houseelf
Harry had ever seen laced her fleshy feet into tight satin slippers.
“Hurry up, Hokey!” said Hepzibah imperiously. “He said he’d come at
four, it’s only a couple of minutes to and he’s never been late yet!”
366